The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to a module socket.
A module socket is used to mount a module (e.g., a camera module) with an optical element (e.g., as a lens) and an image pickup device (e.g., a charge coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor) on a board inside a small electronic device (e.g., a personal computer, cell phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a gaming device or a navigation device). An example of such a socket is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-204351, the content of which is incorporated in its entirety herein.
FIG. 16 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a conventional module socket. In FIG. 16, 911 is a socket housing for a module socket, which has a flat bottom plate 917 and a circumferential wall 916 rising from the circumferential edge of the bottom plate 917. This housing is a box-shaped component made of a resin with an open top. A plurality of contact insertion grooves 918 open on the bottom are formed in the circumferential wall 916, and a contact 961 is accommodated and held as a terminal inside each contact insertion groove 918. A contact 961 has a tail 962 soldered to a connection pad on the base 991, and a cantilevered arm 968 with resilience. A contact portion 964 near the tip of the arm 968 protrudes upward from the upper surface of the bottom plate 917.
The outside of the circumferential wall 916 is covered by a shielding component 971. An elastic engagement piece 977 is integrally connected to the upper end of the shielding component 971. The elastic engagement piece 977 is positioned along the entire inside of the circumferential wall 916, and the upper end is bent substantially in the shape of the letter U, and connected to the upper end of the shielding component 971. The lower end faces the bottom plate 917.
Also, 801 is a camera module which has a main unit 811 and a lens tube 812, and which is accommodated inside the socket housing 911 and secured. Here, a contact pad formed on the bottom surface of the main unit 811 comes into contact with a contact portion 964 on the corresponding contact 961. The upper surface of the engaging protrusion 817 formed on a side surface of the main unit 811 engages the lower end of the elastic engagement piece 977. In this state, the bottom surface of the main unit 811 is biased upward by the spring action of the arm 968 on the contact 961, and the engaging protrusion 817 is biased downward by the spring action of the elastic engagement piece 977. As a result, the camera module 801 is elastically interposed from above and below, and is secured stably inside the socket housing 911.
However, in a module socket of the prior art, the camera module 801 is interposed from above and below by the spring action of the arm 968 of the contact 961 and the elastic engagement piece 977. Thus, the spring in the arm 968 of the contact 961 and the elastic engagement piece 977 has to be long enough to provide this spring action. This increases the dimensions of the module socket in the height direction. Because the socket housing 911 and the shielding component 971 surround the camera module 801, the dimensions of the module socket in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction are also larger.